William henry bunce



(No Model.)

W. H. BUNCH. I BANDING DEVICE FOR POSTAL CARD MAGHINES OR THE LIKE.

No. 465,653. Patented Dec. 2Z, 1891.

U5 Z i fl 2/ INVENTUR Maw a 02 Sw L; v @A/LMT v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HENRY BUNOE, 0E JERSEY orrY, NEW JERsEY, ASSIGNOR TO oAL run 0. wooLwoRTn AND JOHN s. GRAHAM, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

BANDlNG DEVICE FOR POSTAL-CARD MACHINES OR THE LIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 465,653, dated December 22, 1891.

Application filed August 4, 1887. Serial No 246,152. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HENRY BUNOE, of Jersey Oity,in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Banding Devices for Postal-Card Machines or the Like, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

My invention relates to the class of machines in which a package of cards, envelopes, or the like is wrapped about with a band that is secured, as by pasting; and this invention is particularly applicable to and is an improvement on the banding device shown and described in the United States Patent to Bunce, Slate, and Rodda, dated June 4, 1889, No. 404,7 7 3, and reference is here made to the said patent for an extended description of all the steps, by means of which the package of cards or like articles is made up, moved to the position to be banded, and inclosed by a band, and for a description of the mechanism by means of which the several st'eps are taken. In the accompanying application so much only of the machine and of the parts will be shown as are directly related to the particular feature of improvement hereinafter claimed.

The object of my within-described invention is to provide for the banding of packages that vary somewhat in thickness as compared with each other, a variation in the thickness of the packages having heretofore interfered with the proper closing down of the end of the band and the gumrning of the same.

To this end my improvement consists in the combination of the finger-supportin g lever with the pivoted finger adj ustably supported in its bearings, so as to permit of not only a folding or rotary movement of the finger, but also an adjustment thereof fiatwise upon the package, due to the sliding movement of the pivot; and it further consists in the details of the several parts of the banding mechanism with this peculiar folding-finger and its parts, as more particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a detail view, in vertical section, of the bed of a postal-card machine, showing the gumming andb nding mechanism. Fig. 2 is a detail side view of the folding-finger and its support on enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a detail rear view of the same with parts broken away to show the construction of the pivot-joint. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the final position of the folding-finger in banding.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A denotes the bed or frame of a postal-card or like machine, a small part of which is shown in the drawings.

B denotes the gumming mechanism; D, the

driving-shaft, on which is mounted the rotary cams (1 (1 by means of which the foldingfinger lever F is operated.

The package Gof cards is fed along the bed of the machine and in its movement strikes against a length of banding-tape f and folds it in part about the package, the free end f of the band overlying an opening a through the bed, through which the pinchers of the banding mechanism operate and also through which the folding-finger has a vertical movement. The end of the folding-finger underlies the free extremity of the lower end of the tape, and rises at the proper time to carry the free end of this tape f upward along the side of the pack of cards, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The folding-finger leverF is pivoted to the upper end of another lever F, each lever F and F bearing a pin that is in sliding contact with the surface of the respective cams (1 d The object of this peculiar construction is fully set out in the patent above referred to, and it is suficient to state that when the folding-finger E reaches the upper limit of its play the free end f of the band is, after having received a supply of mucilage on itsunder surface,bent down upon the other end of the tape as it lies upon the upper side of the package and is held there by the pressure of the presser-lever g, the lower end of which strikes upon the top of the foldingfinger E.

The final thickness of the package of cards depends of course upon that of the individual cards making up the package, and this thickness will vary sli htly in successive packages of cards made from different pieces of paper, and even slightly where the cards are made from a continuous roll of the same paper. In the case where the folding-finger E is pivoted to the upper end of thelever on a fixed pivot,

as is the case in the patent referred to, I have found that the finger could not be depended upon to lie flatly upon the top of the band, so as to insure a perfect union of the gummed parts of the band, because whatjmay be called the heel or pivot end of the finger would in some cases be higher than the band and in some cases lower, owing to the varying thick-' as the folding-finger has risen high enough in its vertical play, so that its joint is above the level of the top of the package of cards 0, the spring 2' turns it downward toward the package, so that its end lies under the end of the presser-lever g, that in its downward movement will then strike the back of the finger, and then, owing to the freedom of movement of the pivot 6, press the finger firmly and flatly upon the package and the banding-straps. The thickness of the banding-tape has been exaggerated in the figures of the drawings in order to bring out the peculiar feature of the improvement.

I claim as my improvement 1. In combination in the banding mechanism of a postal-card or like machine, a folding-finger lever bearing at its end a foldingfinger pivoted thereto and supported in yielding bearings, all substantially as described.

2. In combination in the banding mechanism of a postal-card or like machine, the folding-finger lever F, with the folding-finger E having its pivot e borne in the slotted sockets e in the end of the lever, and the yielding pivot-supports h, all substantially as described.

WILLIAM HENRY BUNCE.

Witnesses:

JAMES VAN BUREN, EDWARD LAWRENCE. 

